A Pyramid of Paperwork: Labors of Imagination and Interpretation in Late Twentieth Century Architectural Practice

A fundamental shift in employment patterns among architects in North America during the 1960s and 1970s impacted how particular kinds of tasks were either monopolized or delegated within firms. This article uses the archive of the U.S.-based architectural firm Gunnar Birkerts and Associates to show...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Michael Abrahamson
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Universidad de Navarra 2021-11-01
Series:RA. Revista de Arquitectura
Subjects:
Online Access:https://revistas.unav.edu/index.php/revista-de-arquitectura/article/view/42169
Description
Summary:A fundamental shift in employment patterns among architects in North America during the 1960s and 1970s impacted how particular kinds of tasks were either monopolized or delegated within firms. This article uses the archive of the U.S.-based architectural firm Gunnar Birkerts and Associates to show evidence of a growing gulf between executive architects and employee architects (particularly women assigned to work on interiors), as well as the persistence of chauvinistic ideals of practice under changed circumstances. The design for the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis building (1967- 73) is shown to be illustrative of this gulf between imaginative and interpretive labor.
ISSN:1138-5596
2254-6332